Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Out of curiosity, I want to know how many people have insurance on their gear. For some people it's been a big investment that they want to protect.After accidently destroying my previous camera, insurance is top of mind for me.

Why do you have insurance on your gear?
What companies offer camera insurance?
How much does it cost a month?

I selected the first one as it's the closest to my situation. I tried to get my gear insured before my last vacation, but after talking to my insurance agency, it appeared the gear was already insured as long as it was not being used in a professional capacity under my home insurance policy. As I'm not a pro but have dropped more money than I'd like to admit on camera gear it seemed like it was prudent to insure the gear.

Home insurance isn't optimal but it's worked for me once and my rates haven't gone up (yet)

I've been thinking about it recently butI haven't looked into it. I have a feeling I'd be in the same boat as Dimitris and wouldn't be surprised if we used the same insurance company.

I think I'll write down the serial numbers and take pictures of my equipment tonight.

I'm in the process of getting my gear insured. Trouble is that for a lot of my stuff, there is no current direct replacement, and my insurance agent doesn't know the first thing about insuring camera gear.

Similar to above, I selected the first as it is covered under the umbrella of home insurance.

While non-professionally used camera equipment is covered under home insurance, you should consider whether it is worth making a claim should something happen to your equipment.

What I mean by that is insurance companies usually have a three strikes policy, each time you make a claim even if the insurance company doesn't pay, they count it as a strike...after 2-3 strikes they may cancel your insurance.

Your home insurance is there to cover your shelter primarily and you should consider limiting it to the big things, fire, major water damage, foundation collapse, etc.

Personally I wouldn't make a claim for my camera equipment unless it was part of a much larger house claim where the shelter potential was damaged, like through a fire. A while back a business I worked where I kept some of my equipment was burgled...since they were already making a claim for the theft my equipment was added to the list since I use my personal equipment there. However if I wasn't permitted to do so I wouldn't have made a personal claim against my house insurance because the odds are they wouldn't pay it since it was out of my possession and as well for the reasons I already mentioned above...instead I would have considered it one of those life lessons.

Yeah do not put your camera equipment under your tenant/house insurance policy. Use a separate policy so if you make a claim on the camera equipment, it does not affect your tenant/house insurance policy.

Also do make sure you make copies of your receipts. State Farm required the originals which was find and dandy but when I canceled the policy I requested for the originals and they claim that they lost them. Nice.

That isn't true. I work for an insurance company, and it really depends on the company in question. Many companies do not count claims where nothing has been paid out (unless it is damage to your home which was not covered due to wear and tear- if you don't fix it, then they will cancel you, and with good reason).



That is true. Some people use their insurance policies as a way to upgrade their property, or to fix things that is really their responsibility. However, what mike is referring to is house insurance. If you rent, the only thing you are really covered for is contents, anyway.

As for Mike's suggestion, it really depends. If you are using your camera for business (even incidentally) then you should insure is seperately. I know of someone who had their claim for stolen camera equipment denied because he had shot a few weddings).

Further to Shelley's points, those who are using equipment for a business but getting personal insurance vs business insurance, think twice on that. Insurance companies will investigate thoroughly to make sure that the equipment has not been used for any business/commercial related activities. So if you're running a small business and advertising it on the web, kiss your insurance policy good bye if you want to make a claim, though they'll be more than happy to take your monthly payments prior to your claim!

yup i defiantly bought insurance specifically for my gear, it cost me about 50$ but was well used! i am able to claim the insurance right away!

click here to see my insurance

as the crock hunter said, "thats not a knife, this is a knife."

PS this is ment to be funny, so all of you who didn't like the canon/nikon jokes on this forum, please don't click my link.

Just curious then, what if you buy used from someone on the forum or something? Is there a way to prove its worth?

When I got my gear insured they didn't care what it cost me. They wanted replacement cost, which was the cost to buy the item new. And they set the premium based on that figure, so if you set something at the high end of what it costs, the premium is higher.